Automatic grade-marker for shoe-soles, &amp;c.



E. P. NICHOLS.

AUTOMATIC GRADE MARKER FOR SHOE SOLES, 6w.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1, 1912- Patented Dec. 1, 1914.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

- E. P. NICHOLS. AUTOMATIC GRADE MARKER FOR SHOE SQLBS, 6w.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1, 1912.

- Patented Dec.1,1914.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

llll l ilkllhl Patented Dec. 1, 1914.

5 SHEETS-$111331 3.

E. P. NICHOLS.

AUTOMATIC GRADE MARKER FOR SHOE somzs, m1.

APPLICATION IILED MAR.1,1912.

A J w E. 'P. NICHOLS. AUTOMATIC GRADE MARKER FOR SHOE SOLBS, 6w.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1, 1912- Patented Dec. 1, 1914.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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AUTOMATIC GRADE MARKER FOR SHOE SOLES, 6m.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 1, 1912- W5) 11 7? M@ 7 w w w v UNIT D STATES PATENT oEEIcE.

ELMEB. P. NICHOLS, OF MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, ABSIGNOR TO IL LCENE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE, A. CORPORA- TION OF MAINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1, 1914.

Original application filed April 27, 1905, Serial E0. 257,587. Divided and this applicationflled March 1,

1912. Serial No. 680,861.

To all whom it may concern 4 Be it known that I, ELMER P. Nronons, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Manchester, in the county of Hillsboro and State of New Hampshire, have invented an Improvement in Automatic Grade-Markers for Shoe-Soles, &c., of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

, This application is a division of the Earent application, Serial No. 257 ,587, led April 27, 1905, now Patent No. 1,046,213, dated December 3, 1912, which related to an improved evening and ading machine along the line of work orlginally set forth in my patents of November22, 1904, Reissue No. 12,288, and January 22, 1907, No. 841,809.

My object is, as before, to classify the leather pieces automatically. in response to the determinations of feeler means, the present application being restricted to those features and combinations relating more particularly to the visual indicating of the,

grade, preferably by the marking of the grade upon the leather piece.

As the invention in its general scope and all the details of construction and operation of the preferred embodiment of the invention as a whole are set forth at length in the original application from which this is taken, I here omit the elaboration of said details and the invention as a whole, and refer to the original application therefor.'

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a left-hand side elevation of the machine; Figs. 1 and 1 show details of Fig. 1 in enlarged side elevation and plan respectively; Fig. 2 shows the machine in right-hand side elevation; Fig. 3is a front end view thereof; Fig. 4 is a top plan view; Fig. 5'is a central vertical longitudinal section, parts being omitted for clearness; Fig. 6 is a slightly enlarged side elevation of the adjusting wedges and adjacent parts; Fig. 7 is a view illustrating the operation of the feeler or detectin mechanism at the front of the machine; ig. 8 is a detail, in front elevation, of a portion of the clutch mechanism or tripping device for the grade marker; Fig. 9 is a detail of a portion of the grade-setting and lockin mechanism. Fig. 10 is a fragmentary detai in front elevation, partly broken away, showing portionsof the machine at the upper rear part.

Viewing more particularly Figs. 3 4:, and 5, it will be seen that I have provided in the frame 1 above the gate 2 a guide-carrying rod 3 operated by a handwheel 4 and provided with right and left threads for mov- .ing simultaneously to equidistant positionsfrom the center of the machine, opposite guides 5 whereby the operator may nickly set the machine for running through any width of stock. This ate rises at the roper tlme for permitting t e feeding in of stock and then falls automatically. As the stock is fed in, it strikes the rongs 6 of the feed chain 7 and is carried beneath the feeler plate 8, preferably made of thin and resilient steel, as best shown in Figs. 3 and 5,-

whereby as the stock is raised against said plate by the feed chain 7 and the feed roll 9, said plate yields to the variations of thickness, as clearly shown in Fi' 7. On its upper side the plate 8 is provided with opposite blocks 10 engaged by vertical posts 11, 12, slotted at their upper ends 13, see Fig. 5, for enga 'ng a transverse pin or rod 14 mounted in t e outer free ends of opposite arms 15, 16 fast.on a rock shaft 17 journaled in opposite standards 18 19 of the frame. The slots 13 are provided for permitting one post to remain u while the other post is pulling downwar y and operatin said rock shaft when feehng a thm spot a ong the adjacent ed e of the leather;

are pivotally mounted opposite bell-crank levers123,'24 whose lower arms carry rollers 25 freely engaging the upper ends of the blocks 10 res ectively, their u per arms being connecte to a spring 26 a ustable by a thumb nut 27 for re ulating the tension of said -bell-cranks or e bow-levers and constltuting an equalizer for applying balanced pressure upon the oppos te edges of the work being detected.

For difierent widths of stock I adjust the posts"11','12"on the blocks by any convenf by the .spring 22 (connected by rod 20 to said rodilt, as already explained). The tension of the spring 22 iscontrolled by a nut 29'for controlling the flexibility of the plate 8 and also giving quick responsiveness to the detector-transmitting mechanism, as will rigid, thereby readily accommodating the be more fully explained later. The stronger the tension of thelspring 22, the less can'the plate 8 bend upwardly in the middle, and hence the greater'is its tendency; to remain machine to narrow stock, such as counters and. unusually soft stock such as is occasionally found in soles. f

At the outer end of the rock shaft 17 is n acrank 30 connected by a link 31 to an arm 32 ofia'p'ivotally mounted sector 33 having teeth 34% for operating with a pawl 35 pivoted-at 36 and operated by a'slidingbar 37 pivoted at 38 teen arm '39 projecting from a'. shaft 4-0 provided at its opposite end with an arm 41 carrying an adjustable slide 12 and roll 43. for engaging the forward'end ofi the st'ock as it is fed in the machine, and therebydetermining the given point where H the feeling mechanism becomes operative.

When the roll 43 is raised bythe stock, the pawl 35 is thereby brought into locking engageinent with the teeth 34: so as to prevent the sector from swinging inwardly, Fig. 4:,

* "or-toward the left, Fig. 3, while still permitting it to swing freely in an opposite direction as required for successively thinner spots in the leather as detected by the .feeler mechanism. For delicately adjusting this mechanism I provide a right and left threadeel-adjusting nut 44: and a set nut 45 on the link31. v

- For renderingmy machine more quickly responsive so as to adapt it to very short stock such as taps or counters, or, on the other hand,-'to the entire length of other stock, I provide fingers 46, see Figs. 2 [and 5, in the path of the stock immediately back of the feelerlate 8 and provided with a short crankidon the end of its shaft 48 far-lifting a lever 49 pivoted at 50 onthe frame ofthe machine, and shown in Fig. 2 as held in;inoperative position by a pin 51 but: adapted to be thrown down to its dotted 'line position for engaging a lifting'projectien 62 en the-'=lever- 37-, thery. operating manner similar pinion 56 engaging a rack bar or slide bar. 57 slidingly mounted in a heavy "bross head 58, see Figs. 1, 2, and 5,.on the rear standards 59 of the machine wnich carry the grade-marking device which is to be set in accordance with the determinations of the feeler or detecting mechanism at the front of the machine. At its outer end the rack bar 57 has a rigid arm 60 pivotally connected by a rigid rod 61 to a Trshaped arm 62,whose segmental rack 63 engages a pinion 64 fast on a stub shaft 65 'whose o posite end carries the preferred form 0 grade-indicating device, herein shown'as a marking wheel or die 66 which otherwise operates the same as in my patents.

As shown most clearly in Fig. 6, it will be seen that the rack bar 57 carries a pair of inclines 67 coiiperating with" an opposite pair of notched cams (by which I mean devices having stop surfaces definitely separated or delimited from each other, as distinguished from the smooth or regular cam surface of the stop-means shown and claimed in my Patents 811,809 and 1,009,988, in which the graduations of the cam surfaces merge smoothly from one to the next, producing a smooth wedging surface), said notched cams being preferably in the form of stepped inclines or wedges 68 mounted respectively on the upper sides of the journal boxes 69 of the gage roll or device or pressure device 70 and acting as stop-means for positively limiting the upward movement of said pressure-device 70. The rack bar 57 is connected at 71 with a spring 72 secured at 73 to the head 58, whereby said rack bar and all the connected mechanism extending therefrom to the feeling mechanism are, held-constantly in one and the same relation, thereby preventing any possibility of back play, lost motion, etc. Said inclines or wedges are stepped or provided with a series of successive parallel plane surfaces or impact surfaces very fine and short distances apart (herein shown exaggerated, being actually 1/96th of an inch in height), so'that in whateverposition they may be adjusted, the vertical movement of the gage rollor'pressure roll 70 as it is lifted by the passing stock will cause one series of fiatssurfaces to engage the opposite series of flat surfaces perpendicular to their planes, thereby preventing any possibility of jumping or sliding and-shifting on each other. --These' machines'are run at a high speed and are required to be extremely accurate, grading and -evening the leath r with absolute accuracy, and as thefront end of a sole, for instance, is brought by the feed chain suddenly beneath the gage-roll or pressure roll 70, the latter is jumped upward forcibly with such suddenness and momentum as to require an absolutely unyielding and positive stop. By providin the stepped construction above explaine there is no tendency to shift or yield laterally, as would be the case if one wedge-surface met another wedge-surface along inclined planes, or even one wedge surface against another surfaceg whether wedgeshaped or not, as in the graduated cams 01' stop-means of my last mentioned patents. Moreover, by having the adjusting mechanism on top of the journal boxes, as distinguished from being connected by rods to supports beneath the machine, there is no possibility of give or spring, but the gageroll or pressure roll 70 is stopped positively and definitely at a given point according to the adjustment of the wedges. The cross head 58 is very heavy and is adjustably mounted atits four corners by any suitable means, a heavy hollow screw 74 being shown as screwing into said head and containing a screw 75 threaded intothe standard 59. The lower roll 76 is yieldingly supported by springs 77 in the same manner as shown in my said patent.

As the stock (a shoe-sole for example) is fed through the machine and escapes from the gate 2, the gate drops, thereby locking the segment 33 by the engagement with its edge-teeth 78 of a detent 79 connected by a link 80, see Fig. 5, to a bell-crank 81 connected by a link 82 to said gate. If for any reason the feeler plate 8 should rise after the gaging mechanism is locked, this rising or independent adjustment is permitted by the spring 22 and the slots 13 without af-- fecting either the gaging mechanism or grading mechanism. To aid the gate in closing, I provide a spring 83 connected to said bell-crank. The detent 79 slides in a block 84 mounted on a ledge 85 of the frame which supports the sector and adjacent mechanism. As soon as the stock has passed entirely through the machine, the gage-roll drops and thereby opens the gate,being provided for this purpose .with a plunger 86 operating a'lever 87 pivoted at 88 and provided with a bar 89 at its opposite end normally resting beneath the crank 90 for operating said gate, see Figs. 1 and 4. Said bar 89 is also connected by a link 91 to a crank 92 on the shaft 48 operated bythe fingers 46, so that as soon as the forward end of the stock has passed the feeler plate, said fingers thereupon removethe supporting bar 89 from beneath the crank 90 connected, with the gate and leave the latter in condition to drop whenever the stock has escaped therefrom.

For. giving-extreme delicacy ofloperation to the tripping mechanism for branding or stampin the grade marks upon the leather and ena ling, the machine to respond with certainty to thin pieces of leather, I provide sgaecial mechanism operated by the lifting 0 the gage roll or pressure roll by the entrance beneath said roll of the front end of the stock. Pivoted at 93 on the frame of the machine is a lever 91 held in yielding engagement with the rod 86 by a spring 95, and carrying a hook-shaped detent 96 at its opposite end normally held forward by a spring 97 in position to engage a dog 98 pivotally carried at 99 by a cam plate 100 which is free to swing toward and from a clutch 101, see Figs. 4 and 8, being normally held inward by a spring 102. Certain features relating to this clutch, herein shown but not claimed, are duly claimed in myco-pending application Serial No. 219,755, now Patent 1,009,988. The dog 98 is normally in position to almost but not quite, engage a shouldered collar 103 fast on the main shaft 104, and is caused to engage said collar by the upward movement Fig. 1, so as to disengage or release the clutch member 101. The spring is pro vided to accommodate varyin thicknesses of stock. When thus engage and swung by the rotation of the collar and shaft toward the right, Fig.1, the dog 98 is held by a spring 105 up against an overhanging stop :1: of a fixed guide bar as, so that there after it cannot accidentally drop a ainst a shoulder of the collar, the cam p ate having meanwhile released the pin 106 of the clutch 101, permitting the latter to be moved'instantly by its spring 107 to engage the complemental teeth 108 on the hub of a pinion 109 loose on a stub shaft I just above said main shaft 104 and 'eared to the latter by said pinion 109 whic also drives a gear 110 on the shaft 111 of thegage-roll 70. The clutch 101 is provided with teeth in mesh with idlers 112, 113 for driving a gear 114 on a shaft 115 provided with a cam 116 for lifting a plunger 117 and "permitting the same to fall under the action of springs 118, said plunger being marking wheel 66 and operating mechanism are connected. Said marking wheel is journaled in a hanger 120 supported on rods 121 depending from the cross-bar 119 and sliding in guide ways 122 in a fixed bridge 123, (whichmay be a part of cross-head 58).

carried by a cross-bar 119 to which the The; feeding mechanism is operated by 133' erally recessed therefor, so as tobring the said roll in into the right plane for aiding feeding the stock. Above the feed chain 7 ll 'providea special shoe or presser-plate 125 for cotiperating with said feed points 6 feed chain in giving a strong positive feed for' all kinds of stock alike, said shoe or presser' plate being heavy and rigid and ex- A tending directly in line with and above the gate 2 of the feeler plate,

teeth or prongs 6 of the feed chain for impaliiig the leather on said teethirrespective of the tendency of said leather to bend. l'have before provided pressers at the opposite sides of the chain, the result being that very flexible and spongy stock would bend at the edges beneath said pressers and arch more or less out of contact with the impaling prongs. The presser plate 125 is, held down yieldingly by springs 126, 127.

4 The operation'of the foregoing machine is asfollows: If the operator has been running through number 11 or 12 soles, for instance, and next has a job of number 5 soles, he adjusts the guides 5' correspondingly by means of the hand wheel 4: so as properly to center the stock, and then the being already held in raised position by the bar 99 and connected mechanism extending back to the gage-roll or pressure roll 70, the leather piece is shoved against the feed prongs and quickly lifted into contact with the feeler plate 8 (not herein claimed, but claimed broadly in my Pat-' ent No. 1,009,988)

which is immediately lifted by the leather piece as the latter is fed inward by the feed chain, said plate yielding to the unevennesses of the stock as. the latter passes along. As soon as the front endof the stock reaches the back edge it strikes the adjacent fin ers 46 which operate to release the gate, and also (in case the piece of stock is a small piece,

' it isintended to grade the stock for its enin such F case 7 serves tire,length) the operation of said. fingers 'cessive increment of downward'movement;

manages? as a counter or tap, or in case to throw the detent-E'Ai'i into, engagement with the" sector 33 of the along beneath the opposite end of the through the connec I of either of the posts I1, 12 (under the tar pulse or pull of elements 22, 23 and 24= just mentioned) being deftly and accurately retained by said sector which is engaged, as stated, by its pawl'35 for, the purpose. The edge-engagement or grading. with reference to a plurality of edge detections, following the variationsof edge contour, is not herein claimed, as it is broadly claimed in my copending application, vnow Patent 1 No. 841,809. If counters or thelike are being graded, thespring 22 is givena correspondlng'tension, so as to require theplate 8 to assume a more nearly rigid condition. Said spring 22 also performs another very useful ofiice. It operates, upon the entrance of stock, to compel the quick action of the rock shaft 17 and all its connected parts back to-the wedge-carrying bar 57. The spring 22 presses unremittingly upward upon rod 14 and hence always causes the I train of parts 15,16,17, 33,' 5d, 56, 57-67 to be pulled forward. As this pulling strain is constant, pulling forward at one end of said train of parts, while the spring 72 exerts at the opposite end of said train of parts a rearward pulling strain which is also constant, it follows that no lost 3110-- tion can take place, and the gaging mecha&

roll t3 according, to any given adjustment r thereof, and thereupon said roll, through its connections 41, 40, 39 and 37,'ope ra'tes the dog the" same r as before. When the stock has been fully 'felt of and its desired thinnest portions determined and recorded by said automatic" mechanism, the detent Z9 immediately locks the sector 33 and retains it and all the connected mechanism back to the gage-roll or pressure roll in immovable position thereafter until the stock has finally passed the ate2. A T e grade-marking deviceisset by the gradual swinging outward-to the right of; the sector .33 through the actuation by its I I arts 54--'57, the latter shifting the steppediwedges" and thereby positively; fixing the extent of vertical movement-thereafter possible tothe gageroll, and at thegsame time,throughthe marliningthe leather; according :to its deterfrom the machine, said detent being actuated by the dropping of mined grade. The bar and inclines are moved in response to the determinations of the feeler mechanism and, as the bar and inclines are unyieldingly connected directly to the grade-marking device, the latter is accurately and immediately adjusted so thatthere is no-chance for back-play, wab-.

bling, or uncertainty or inaccuracy. So likewise my machine provides positive unyieldingconnections from the gage-roll to the tripping mechanism so that the latter is instantly moved when the gage-roll is.

moved. As the gage-r0111 70 or pressure roll normally closes against the under roll 76,

mediate operation the marking mechanism,

it follows that each piece must necessarily be marked and correctly marked before it can pass from the machine, irrespective of whether the leather piece. is thick or thin or is spongy or hard, large or small.

I am aware that my invention is capable of a Wide variety of embodiments within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings and description, andaccordingly I wish it understood that the present embodiment herein presented is merely a preferred construction, except as otherwise explicitly stated.

The feeler mechanism at the front of the machine constitutes gage adjusters for automatically governing the grading mechanism or mechanism at the rear of the machine for adjusting and controlling the grademarking mechanism, while the pawl and ratchet mechanism between the two former constitutes setting mechanism therefor.

Having described my invention, what I claim "as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: a

1. In a machine of the kind described, a frame provided with standards having a heavy cross-head, a gage device movable in said standards toward and from said crosshead, gage-regulating inclines and slide bars mounted in said cross-head for limiting said movement of the gage device, means for nism moving said inclines and slide bar to different adjustments according to the grade required for correspondingly varying the extent of movement permitted to said gage device, a gradeindicating device, and unyielding connections from said lndlcatmg deviceto' said slide bar for'settmg the indicatin device by said bar 2. In a machine of the kind described, a gage device moved by the passage of the stock, means for limiting said movement of said gage device, automatic setting mechaor. setting said limiting means accord ing to the grade required, a grade-marker, operating mechanism for said marker, in-

cluding tripping mechanism, and connections from sald gage device to said tri pingmechanism for directly operating the atter by said movement of said gage device.

3. In a machine of the kind described, a grade marker, automatic means for settin the marker according to the thickness 0 the stock, a gage roll in position to be engaged by the stock adapted to be positively moved by the passage'of said stock, and operating means for the grade marker, including tripping mechanism actuated by said gage rol for governing the operation of said grade marker as set.

4. A machine of the kind described, comprising, in combination, feeler mechanism to detect thin spots in a leather piece, a grade .marker to mark the grade upon the leather piece, connections between the feeler mechanism and marker for rendering the latter responsive to the former, and operating means for operating said marker in its marking operations governed by the leather piece, said operating means being constructed and arranged to respond to said piece irrespective of the latter"s thickness and character, the aforesaid combination and construction and arrangement including means to prevent the escape of theleather piece from the machine excepting by properly governing said operating means.

5. In a machine of the kind described, feeler mechanism to detect thin spots in a leather piece, a grade marker responsive to said feeler mechanism for its grade adjustment, means for effecting said adjustment said marker being operable to mark the grade upon the leather piece, and operating mechanism for said marker comprising tripping means governed by the leather piece and including a part located to prevent the escape of a leather piece from the machine excepting by actuating said tripping means, said preventing means having an arrangement and construction to permit thesald escape in said one way only.

6. In a machine of the kind described, feeler mechanism to detect thin spots in a leather piece, a grade marker responsive to said feeler mechanism for its grade ad ust ment, means for effecting said adjust-ment said marker being operable to mark the grade upon the leather piece, and operating mechanism forso operatin said marker, ncluding tripping means or said marker, and separable members between which the leather piece must pass in order to escape from the machine, one of said separab e members, having connection to v operate said tri in means.

'ii In a machine of the kind described,

15 connections 5 marker, including tripping means for said marker comprising a clutch, means to operate the clutch, opposite separable members between which the leather piece must pass in escaping trom the machine, and connec- 10 tions fromat least one of said members for operating said tripping means.

8.111 a machine oi the kind described, feeler mechanism to detect thin spots n a leather piece, a grade marker and setting thereter responsive to said teeler mechanism, said marker being operable to mark the grade upon th'efileather Linnea? piece, mechanism to operate the marker, inclnding tripping means for said marker, comprising a clutch, means for rendering said clutch eflective, opposite. separable members between which the leather piece i must pass in escaping from the machine, and

connections from at least one or said memhers to operatethe latter upon separation of said members. i

In testimony whereof, ll have, signed my name to this s ecification; in the presence of? two subscribing Witnesses.

ELMER 1P. NICHOLS.

Witnesses EDWARD MAXWELL, JArrris Heaven 

